Combat stances

[Nasikabatrachus]

Combat is somewhat fun, but it lacks nuance. I think the complexity and fun of combat could be greatly expanded if variables like pawn speed and accuracy could be affected by active player decisions. To accomplish this, I suggest three combat stances to be choosable by the player, sort of like how colonist reactions to threats when not drafted can be chosen by the player.

Stance 1: Normal
The current default stance for everybody. Pawns walk at their normal speed, shoot with their normal accuracy, melee with normal strength, and take cover normally.

Stance 2: Prone
Pawns lie down on the ground to take careful aim. Aiming time is 1.5x longer and about 50% more accurate. Pawns are harder to hit when in the open, and are much better at using cover, but move very slowly and take time to transition into and out of the prone stance. A prone pawn is not in a good position to engage in melee combat.

Stance 3: Running
Pawns move faster to take advantage of mobility. Pawns move twice as fast as normal, but are less accurate and get tired much faster while they move (four times faster seems reasonable to me). Running pawns can shoot while they move, but are much less accurate than normal/shooting while standing still. Pawns who are moving while in the running stance have a melee bonus against pawns who are standing still.

I suggest that pawns start off in the normal stance whenever they are drafted, with three buttons for each stance option.

These stances can interact with existing pawn traits. A pawn with the jogger trait, for instance, might not move twice as fast as normal when in the running stance, but doesn't get tired as quickly as pawns who don't have the jogger trait. A Careful Shooter might not have an increase in aiming time while in the prone stance, but does get an accuracy bonus.

[Thane]

As long as we also get the option to make squads, I think that will work as it isI think it would just cause confusion. "Whoops just made everyone prone. Come on you four go to running. No I did not mean you sniper man Lie down!" Without someway to sort people into fire teams I think that would be the result. Plus do you really want running tribals?

[Mikhail Reign]

Why would being prone make ya take longer to shoot? It's easier and faster shooting laying down.

[humblebundle]

Why would being prone make ya take longer to shoot? It's easier and faster shooting laying down.

Thats right, i would say rotatespeed is way slower, that would make more sense.

[Limdood]

prone needs more drawback unless the current AI changes (AI would also need something of a fix, since they'd need to be smart enough to use prone, AND smart enough not to be able to be "tricked" into getting into and out of prone).

Easiest drawback i can think of is:  60% of shots that hit a prone target hit the head (and associated parts), 30% hit a shoulder, and 10% act normally (freak accidents are FUN!)

I disagree with "run." As it is, colonists cannot attack while moving, and considering their move speed doesn't change from normal to fleeing or ON FIRE, its fair to assume that normal movement is "running."

Then again, prone is just one more step towards a much more micromanaged combat system, with aiming, body part sniping, and so on.  Due to the simplicity and intentional randomness of the currently implemented combat system, i doubt that is a direction the developer wants to move...its a colony/storytelling sim after all, not an advanced combat and tactics sim.

[Mikhail Reign]

Easiest drawback i can think of is:  60% of shots that hit a prone target hit the head (and associated parts), 30% hit a shoulder, and 10% act normally (freak accidents are FUN!)

Heh. Ya know the movie Black Hawk Down? If you read the book that it was based off, that was written by one of the guys who was there, it tells the story of a guy that this happened to. One bullet did so much damage because it kept passing in and out of his body as it traveled its length. If I remember correctly, he even had a ball shot off.

[skullywag]

If you want more realism in your combat then i suggest you have a look at the combat realism mod. It has things like supression, weapon sway, cover system and stances (in that colonists are harder to hit when prone) it might be what you are looking for.

[Limdood]

I looked into combat realism, i really wanted to try it out, but i've been unable to get the mod to work in my game

Sad Limdood...

[Nasikabatrachus]

Why would being prone make ya take longer to shoot? It's easier and faster shooting laying down.

The point of going prone being that you're trying to be more accurate, which takes more time. But that's partly a handwave to justify balancing its advantages with disadvantages.

As long as we also get the option to make squads, I think that will work as it isI think it would just cause confusion. "Whoops just made everyone prone. Come on you four go to running. No I did not mean you sniper man Lie down!" Without someway to sort people into fire teams I think that would be the result. Plus do you really want running tribals?

I mean, people can pause the game and select exactly the colonists they want. It's not like there aren't other things that can cause confusion, and most of the ones i can think of don't have buttons with clear indicators. As for whether I want running tribals, I think it's kind of ridiculous that they're as into being suicidal rushers as they are now, regardless of how fast they move.

I disagree with "run." As it is, colonists cannot attack while moving, and considering their move speed doesn't change from normal to fleeing or ON FIRE, its fair to assume that normal movement is "running."

Then again, prone is just one more step towards a much more micromanaged combat system, with aiming, body part sniping, and so on.  Due to the simplicity and intentional randomness of the currently implemented combat system, i doubt that is a direction the developer wants to move...its a colony/storytelling sim after all, not an advanced combat and tactics sim.

It doesn't make much sense that people would be moving as fast as they can all the time. And it does seem unlikely that Tynan will go for this, but I thought I'd float it anyway. Although Rimworld was initially marketed with its tactical combat system as a selling point, so it's not really beyond the pale that this kind of complexity might be added without also adding the ability to have colonists target the fifth toe, right foot.

[enterprise12]

you need a fresh world for Combat Realism, i use it and its great(make sure to get its embrasures addon too, or the literal embrasures mod. as that adds fireproof ones, stronger or both combined)

i dont see any need for more than Combat realism as it does a great job, any more than that is to much micromanagement, so i would leave the game as-is in that respect, and people use this perfectly good mod instead